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Find your ‘game eye’

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In this staged photo, the hunter is using a scope to see something in the brush. This unsafe practice lets game know someone is in the blind and could be putting another hunter in danger.

By Ralph Winingham
Special to the Express-News

Whether a hunter is using a rifle, bow or camera, the old adage of “you have to see them to shoot them” is one of those timeless truisms in the outdoors community.

Being able to see an animal that is trying not to be seen in brush the elusive creature calls its home is a skill that normally comes with ample time spent in the field. Knowing when and where to look for a deer, feral hog, turkey or other game can test the ability of even veteran hunters.

“In the world of vertical, you should always look for a horizontal line,” said Dave Richards of Boerne, offering a key tip to spotting game in the brush.

Explaining that the natural landscape is up and down, rather than side to side, Richards said that any horizontal line just might be the back of an animal trying to avoid detection.

“Don’t look for the whole animal, but try to see the tip of its antlers or an eye or some other small part of the animal,” he said. “Of course, having a really good pair of binoculars is one of the keys to seeing more game.”

Richards, 48, who is a veteran wildlife photographer with Wilds of Texas Photography and has been a Leupold optics representative for the past 18 years, has spent thousands of hours in the field honing his “game eyes” in order to photograph and hunt all kinds of wildlife.

“Another key is to watch for any movement,” he said. “Something you see flash in the brush might be a bird, but it also might be a big buck. Unless a deer is moving, it can be very hard to see in the thick brush. That is when you can really rely on good optics.”

Pointing out that quality binoculars in the $300 to $400 range today are better than something that may have cost $800 to $900 about five years ago, Richards said good optics will bring out the detail that cannot be achieved with the unaided human eye.

“Today’s binoculars have all new technology, with lead-free glass, sharper contrast and new coatings,” he said. “It seems like there is an upgrade every three years, and they just keep getting better and better.

“In South Texas, you may not see something as close as 100 yards away in the brush with your plain eye, but good glass really gets the job done. This is particularly true in the early morning and late afternoon when everything is gray to black.

“At dark-thirty, every cactus and every stump looks like a big deer and every buck looks like a monster. The low light can play tricks on you,” he said, adding that good binoculars will provide improved clarity in those types of conditions.

Richards pointed out that acquiring a “game eye” comes from both knowing what to look for and spending a lot of time in the field.

“You want to scan with your binoculars after you have looked over an area with your unassisted eyes,” said Richards, noting that relying on binoculars to search all the time for possible animals in the brush can cause eye fatigue and a headache.

Unfortunately, another common practice by some hunters that is both dangerous and discouraged is to use the scope of a rifle like a pair of binoculars to focus on an unknown object in the brush.

“I have been there in the brush when I looked up to see someone pointing a rifle at me from a blind,” he said. “That is a major no-no from a safety standpoint. You should never point your rifle at something that you don’t intend to kill.

“Not only that, but if you are sticking your rifle out of your blind, light can glint off the barrel and you will be moving enough to tip off every animal in the area that something is in the blind.”

When the goal is to be able to put your “game eyes” on an animal hiding in the brush, being seen first by a big buck or feral hog is probably the most certain way to go home empty-handed.